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Pope and Charlemagne

"Let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky" -Charlemagne

Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, was born in 742 in Northern Europe and died in 814. Charlemagne conquered much of Western Europe and united it under a great empire. He ruled the Franks after his dad Pepin the short died. The Frank Empire was split in half among Charlemagne and his brother Carloman. However, Charlemagne became sole ruler after his brother died in 771. Charlemagne was determined to strengthen his realm and to bring order to Europe. In 772 he launched a 30-year military campaign to accomplish this objective. By 800 Charlemagne was the undisputed ruler of Western Europe. His vast realm encompassed France, Switzerland, Belgium, and The Netherlands. It included half of Italy and Germany, and parts of Austria and Spain. By establishing a central government over Western Europe, Charlemagne restored much of the unity of the old Roman Empire and paved the way for the development of modern Europe. Sometime in 800, Pope Leo III placed a golden crown on Charlemagne's head. He was then named Charlemagne, Emperor of Holy Roman Empire. He cherished the Church of St. Peter the Apostle at Rome above all other holy and sacred places, and heaped its treasury with a vast wealth of gold, silver, and precious stones. Charlemagne sent great and countless gifts to the popes. Throughout his whole reign, he wished that he were able to re-establish the ancient authority of the city of Rome under his care and by his influence, and to defend and protect the Church of St. Peter. Also, he wished to beautify and enrich it out of his own store above all other churches. During his 46-year reign, from 768 to 814, he almost doubled the territory ruled by the Franks. However, after Charlemagne's death, his empire weakened and eventually fell apart.

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...The reign of Charlemagne marked not only the reawakening of the imperial ideal in the West, but also, for a brief time, the resurrection of education and a form of centralized government. For a moment, it looked like the Roman Empire was about to be reborn in the West. Such was not to be the case however as Charlemagne’s empire collapsed soon after his death. Though the political entity known as the Carolingian Empire vanished, it left a legacy that would influence the development of western Europe for centuries to come.”
Palmer
-p. 26 Frankish king and Roman bishop both believed that if only the Roman Empire could be restored peace and order might once more reign. Church and empire, religion and the state were to be as two mighty swords employed in the same holy cause
-p.26 Hence, Charlemagne won over massive amounts of territory that was once lost to barbarians. He converted people into Christianity during this process. (Latin Christian world)
Education resurrection
-p.26 people were once more reunited under an empire, but the capital was now in northern Europe at Aix-la-Chapelle or Aachen.
-p.26 centuries of violence and confusion had virtually destroyed education and systematic learning, even for the most powerful families in Europe. He used his authority to revive the all but forgotten ancient learning and to spread education at least among the clergy.
p. 27 Scholars from England, Germany, France, Italy and Spain came to...

...CharlemagneCharlemagne was born on April 2, 742 A.D. in Herstal, Belgium. His Parent’s were Bertrada of Laon and Pepin the Short. Charles received his education from his mother and the monks of Saint Denis. He could speak and read Latin and his native Germanic language, but he never learned to write, though he tried to his entire life. He mastered military and political arts close to his father's throne. His parents died leaving Charlemagne to be the sole ruler of Franks. Charles's early reign was started with warfare, which expanded his control in all directions. His longest wars were in an area just below “Denmark”, against the Saxons. As he conquered, he converted them to Christianity by threatening to kill them. Pope Hadrian then asked for his help in the south, calling on Charles to deliver him from the Lombards. Charles obliged and quickly compelled the Lombard king to retire to a monastery. He took the crown in 774, and now ruled over much of what is modern Italy. During an Easter visit to Rome that year he was greeted by the pope with the words; "Behold another Constantine, who has risen in our times.”
His triumph culminated on Christmas 800, when in one of the best known events of the Middle Ages, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne "Emperor of the Romans." Charles told his biographer that he attended the service unaware that the pope...

...CharlemagneCharlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, was the king of the Franks from 742-814 A.D. In Aachen, 724 A.D., Charles was born to Peppin the Short. Before Charlemagne's time, Charles Martel and Peppin the Short had been working hard at trying to conquer, unify, and Christianize Europe. Charles Martel was the start of it, and he passed on his vision and beliefs to his son Peppin. Peppin later passed it on to his two sons Charles and Carloman.
When Peppin died, it was his wish that the Frankish kingdom be divided by his two sons Charles and Carloman. Three years later, Carloman died and Charles assumed full command of the Franks. He was now fully in control of the army of his father and grandfather, and he built it up and made it double in size and power. Charlemagne was a soldier at heart and a great military leader; he had his grandfather's fighting spirit in him. He planned to carry out his father and grandfather's vision and that's exactly what he did.
When Charles first took the thrown, the kingdom was wild with different pagan tribes and kingdoms. They were at war with everyone and especially the Christians. Charlemagne's goal was to conquer the heathens and convert them. Through years of war, many battles, and thousands of lost lives, Charles accomplished his objective. The peoples he conquered include: the Aquitanians, the Lombards, the Saxons, the Bretons, the Bavarians, the Huns, and the Danes,...

...Charlemagne
Charles the Great
Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, was born in 742 to Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon. The oldest of four children, Charlemagne rose to great power and significance. He rebuilt the crumbling society of Medieval Europe by introducing numerous social, political and cultural reforms in what we now call the Carolingian Renaissance. He became the King of the Franks, and gained the title of Holy Roman Emperor. Through many military campaigns, he unified northern Europe and established a flourishing society.
Charlemagne was born two years before his parents married; this resulted in him being born out of wedlock. His father was declared the King of the Franks in 751 after the Merovingian King was dethroned. Charlemagne then became one of the heirs. Gigantic and authoritative, he was everything a leader should be. He was taught at the palace school by Fulrad, the abbot of St. Denis, and participated in Pepin the Short’s coronation ceremony. He also accompanied his father on many military campaigns. These campaigns showed Charlemagne the battlefield of both life and war, and influenced him to restore the fragmented society he saw.
Charlemagne had three siblings: Carloman, 752 to 771; Gisela, 757 to 810; and Pepin IV, 758-762. Pepin IV died in infancy due to unknown reasons. Gisela became a nun soon after her father’s death in 771,...

...History Essay
The Age of Charlemagne: Power and Religion in the early Medieval West'
Who planned Charlemagne's imperial coronation and why?'
The imperial coronation of Charlemagne has been a source of dispute between scholars of this era for a period of time, perhaps due to the fact that the sources available are often biased and the historical information, often vague. Historians have argued that perhaps it had been Charlemagne himself who instigated the coronation possibly as a means to consolidate his power and place himself and the Frankish empire on a par with the model in place in the Byzantine regions. Others have suggested that it was in fact the doing of the papacy at the time. Charlemagne had offered great support and interest in religious affairs and could be suggested that it had been a pre-emptive strike to ensure that the ruler did not take advantage of the weakening state of the papacy in this period. Also, Charlemagne offered to the papacy a strong figure of protection, some one that would defend their interests and aid a shift of religious power from Constantinople to Rome. However, the events leading up to his imperial coronation can not be established without first examining the relations between Charlemagne and the religious section, nor can either argument as to how the coronation came about, be dismissed without establishing the background to the event....

...Charlemagne
History 101 - Fast Forward
Fall 1996
PREPARED BY:
SUBMITTED: September 30, 1996
Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, King of the Franks (742-814), was a strong
leader who unified Western Europe through military power and the blessing of the
Church. His belief in the need for education among the Frankish people was to
bring about religious, political, and educational reforms that would change the
history of Europe.
Charlemagne was born in 742 at Aachen, the son of Pepin(or Pippin) the Short and
grandson of Charles Martel. His grandfather, Charles, had begun the process of
unifying western Europe, in the belief that all people should be Christian.
Charlemagne's father, Pepin, continued this process throughout his rule and
passed his beliefs on to Charlemagne. All three, in addition to the political
unification, believed that the church should be reformed and reorganized under
the Pope, which helped their rise to power as the Carolingian Dynasty. (Holmes
74)
Upon Pepin's death in 768, Charlemagne and his brother, Carloman, each inherited
half of the Frankish kingdom. Pepin, in the Merovingian tradition of the time,
split his kingdom between his two sons. Three years later Carloman died and
Charlemagne took control of the entire kingdom. He inherited great wealth and a
powerful army, built by his father and grandfather....

...The Significance of the Coronation of Charlemagne
By Monica Fleener
Western Oregon University
HST 499: Senior Seminar
Professor Kimberly Jensen
Spring 2005
Primary Thesis Advisor: Dr. Benedict Lowe
Secondary Thesis Advisor: Dr. Narasingha Sil
I.
On Christmas Day in the year 800 A.D. Charlemagne, king of the Franks and part of the
Carolingian line,
1
was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III (795 - 816). The
coronation took place during mass at the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome; immediately
following the coronation, the acclamation of the people of Rome was heard: “To
Charles, the most pious Augustus, crowned by God, the great and peace - giving Emperor,
life and victory.” After this proclamation was made three times, the king “was adored by
the pope in the manner of ancient princes; and, the title of patricius being dropped, he
was called emperor and augustus .”
2
The coronation of Charlemagne created the Holy
Roman Empire, which endured until 1806. According to James Bryce, the coronation
warrants the classification of the most important occurrence of the Middle Ages. Bryce
also views the event as exceptional in that if the ceremony had not taken place, “the
history of the world would have been different.”
3
The reasons behind the coronation were different for...

...﻿Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 – 30 May 1744) was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. Famous for his use of the heroic couplet, he is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson.[1]
Translations and Editions
Translation of the Iliad
Pope had been fascinated by Homer since childhood. In 1713, he announced his plans to publish a translation of the Iliad. The work would be available by subscription, with one volume appearing every year over the course of six years. Pope secured a revolutionary deal with the publisher Bernard Lintot, which brought him two hundred guineas (£210) a volume, equivalent to about £27,300 in 2014,[19] a vast sum at the time.
His translation of the Iliad appeared between 1715 and 1720. It was acclaimed by Samuel Johnson as "a performance which no age or nation could hope to equal" (although the classical scholar Richard Bentley wrote: "It is a pretty poem, Mr. Pope, but you must not call it Homer.").
Translation of the Odyssey
Encouraged by the success of the Iliad, Pope translated the Odyssey. The translation appeared in 1726, but this time, confronted with the arduousness of the task, he enlisted the help of William Broome and Elijah Fenton. Pope attempted to conceal the extent of the collaboration (he himself translated only twelve...